Does Zechariah 11:10-11 end or negate God's covenant with the Jewish people?


Zechariah 11:10 - 11


Clarify Share Report Asked February 11 2016 Mini Michael Morgan


Mini Tim Maas Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army
As I read this passage, the covenant being referred to here is not the covenant related to God making the descendants of Abraham through his son Isaac and his grandson Jacob (Israel) His chosen people from whom the Messiah would come, or to God's election of Israel with relation to events of the end times.

Rather, it refers to a covenant that God made with all other nations of the earth to protect (or "favor", as one of Zechariah's staffs was called) Israel by restraining or preventing those other nations from destroying Israel as a nation.

The breaking of this covenant had already been partially fulfilled by the dissolution of the "Union" (the name of the other staff that Zechariah was holding, and that he also broke) of Israel by being partitioned into Judah and Israel; then by the captivities to which Judah and Israel were subjected; and would be finally fulfilled by the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, after Jesus had come, and salvation had been made available to the Gentiles.

February 12 2016 0 responses Vote Up Share Report

Mini Kenneth Heck
The book of Zechariah is perhaps the most difficult to interpret of all the prophetic texts. The whole of Chapter 11 seems to refer to the time of Christ, the new Christian religion, and the subsequent dispersal of the Jews.

The first 9 verses refer to the time under the Romans before Christ, when the priesthood was morally at an all-time low point, and the Jewish people were taking advantage of each other in order to maintain themselves.

In my opinion verse 10 does not terminate the covenant made through Moses since it was everlasting, being of blood. The staff Favor, which God broke, was the covenant made by Nehemiah (Neh 9-10) which pertained to the re-entry of the Jews from Babylon into their own land. As a result, the Jews were once more scattered when their rebellion against Rome was defeated (66-73 AD). "All the peoples" refers to the different sects within Judaism at the time, pharisees, sadducees, zealots,
essenes, etc., some mutually opposed to each other.

Verses 12-14 refer to the betrayal of Christ by Judas for 30 pieces of silver, and the inevitable separation of Christianity from Judaism. The "brotherhood between Judah and Israel" refers to the physical sons of Judah being able to obtain the righteousness of Israel through repentance of sin under Mosaic law. "Israel" in this sense isn't about genealogy, but about the spiritual truth of righteousness and holiness in front of God. Only in "Israel" is this possible. When the Jews rejected Christ, any hope for righteousness through Mosaic animal sacrifice ceased. As a result, Christians were grafted into the tree of spiritual Israel, and the Jews continuing to adhere to Mosaic sacrificial laws were left out. 

Verses 15-17 seems to refer to the time of the failed revolt of Simon Bar Kochba, 132-135 AD, perhaps also including a reference to Rabbi Akiva, a very prominent teacher who supported the revolt.

February 12 2016 0 responses Vote Up Share Report

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